Japan's Narita airport gets new control tower -- 3rd in three eras

NARITA, Chiba -- A new 60-meter control tower to help guide aircraft on the ramp of Narita International Airport in the eastern Japan prefecture of Chiba is set to go into operation on Sept. 10, giving people the chance to see towers from three different Japanese eras until demolition of the oldest tower starts in February next year.

Narita International Airport Corp. (NAA)'s new "Ramp Central Tower" was built at a total cost of 2.65 billion yen (approximately $25 million). This and two other control towers, the original 64-meter-high tower completed in the Showa Era in 1971 and the current 87-meter-high tower completed in the Heisei era in 1993 stand about 100 meters apart. They both differ in design from the newest one in the current Reiwa era.

Functionality was given priority in the appearance of the new tower, whose construction began in April 2018. From the fifth floor at the top of the tower, NAA staff confirm the location of aircraft visually and on monitors as they communicate with pilots to guide planes on the ramp, or apron, of the airport and direct them ahead of takeoff, while allotting parking spaces to landing aircraft. The tower is operated by eight staff working in shifts around the clock.

In March 1978, the former control tower was occupied by a group opposed to construction of the airport, then known as New Tokyo International Airport, and the airport's opening was subsequently delayed by two months. The tower thus stood as a symbol of opposition to the facility.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is in charge of air traffic control involving takeoff and landing and directions to aircraft near the runway at Narita, but ramp control guidance is handled by NAA. When the airport first opened, both tasks were handled by the old control tower, but after the current control tower was completed air traffic duties were transferred there, and the old tower had been used for ramp control operations alone.

Since the old control tower is aging it will be dismantled starting in February 2021.

(Japanese original by Tadakazu Nakamura, Narita Bureau)